Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said it is seeking to sell the company that manufactures a gun used in last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

"We have determined to immediately engage in a formal process to sell our investment in Freedom Group...We believe that this decision allows us to meet our obligations to the investors whose interests we are entrusted to protect without being drawn into the national debate that is more properly pursued by those with the formal charter and public responsibility to do so," Cerberus said in a statement today.

Cerberus acquired a number of gun and ammunition makers, including rifle maker Bushmaster Firearms International, the manufacturer of the rifle authorities say was used in Friday's shooting, which killed 26 people, 20 of whom were children.

Other firearm companies Cerberus and its affiliates have bought include Remington Arms, the country's largest and oldest maker of rifles and shotguns.

Cerberus consolidated its gun holdings in a company started in 2007 called Freedom Group. Freedom Group's legal name was changed in October to Remington Outdoor Company though the company still uses the Freedom Group name to do business.

Cerberus's statement comes shortly after it faced pressure yesterday from former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as well as the California State Teachers Retirement System, which said it is reviewing a $500m investment commitment to the New York-based private equity firm.

"Our role is to make investments on behalf of our clients...It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our federal and state legislators," said Cerberus. "There are, however, actions that we as a firm can take."

Cerberus, known for investing in distressed companies and securities, was founded by Steven Feinberg, an avid shooter and hunter. George Kollitides, a former managing director at the firm and one of the original Cerberus executives assigned to build Freedom Group, was appointed chairman and chief executive of Freedom Group earlier this year.